Who's the most beatable/unbeatable champ in the UFC?

[Youth N Asia]

The UFC's title holder all look very good right now.

 

HEAVYWEIGHT: Tim Sylvia, 22-2-0. I personally don't like him as a fighter, but two wins in a row over Andre is a hell of a thing. Plus I'm not loving the competition in the division.

 

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Chuck Liddell, 18-3-0. 5 wins in a row. 2 over Randy, and 1 over Tito and Jeremy Horn. All top notch guys. He's avenged 2 of his losses so far. He's beaten the best guys in the UFC. I think competition's a little better in the LW division than the heavyweight, and he's got a tough fight coming up. And I'm sure UFC would love to make matches with Griffin and Tito.

 

MIDDLEWEIGHT: Rich Franklin, 20-1-0, 8 straight wins. He's beaten Tanne twicer, Loiseau, and a worn down Kem Shamrock. You know UFC is just creaming themselves about giving Diego a title shot. Very good competition with middleweights.

 

WELTERWEIGHT: Matt Highes, 39-4-0, won his last five, and last 18 out of 19. Again, a tough fight coming up, but he's dominated some of the very best in the division. Lots of good young competition in the division. I personally think the best competiton in this division.

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I'm only a MMA novice, so I may have no idea what I'm talking about, but that's how I see it. I think Franklin's the most unbeatable right now. He's looked too good in his last handful of fights. I think Chuck's the most vunerable right now. I think he's just got too many possible fights coming up that he could lose. GRANTED, I wouldn't bet against him, but UFC knows there are money fights with Chuck and top guys right now. I just don't see enough competition with heavyweight to pick Tim here.

[Lord of The Curry]

Sylvia is the most beatable guy but with the current roster at HW and with Arlovski unlikely to ever get a title shot again it's questionable who they have that could beat him. Vera is the one who stands out and even then he'd still have contend with the reach advantage.

 

Chuck won't be letting go of the belt anytime soon, methinks. Should dispatch of Babalu easily enough (not to say Babalu cannot win) and after that all he really needs to do is take care of Tito and the division will be struggling to find guys to fight him. I do not see Forrest, Rashad or Lambert presenting Chuck with any kind of problem, barrring a serious change in the fighters strategy.

 

While Franklin has looked dominant against Loiseau and Quarry it took him 4 rounds to put away Evan Tanner and he still struggled against Jorge Rivera before submitting him. In terms of toughest challenges ahead he seems to be getting one of the tougher tests a UFC champ has faced in Anderson Silva, especially if it's going to be Franklins return fight from injury.

 

Assuming Hughes gets by Penn which is definetly not a gimme he'll have GSP waiting for him. That's the toughest back-to-back championship defenses you'll see anybody in the UFC have in a long time.

[Damaramu]

And Diego's not a middleweight YnA.

[Angel_Grace_Blue]

Didn't Vera say that he'd like to be both LHW and HW champ at the same time? I'm asking because I'm curious as to how he'd manage at 205.

[Guest DRH 502]

In the order of most beatable to unbeatable:

 

1. Sylvia

2. Franklin

3. Hughes

4. Liddell

 

A good wrestler would beat Franklin...Sylvia knows its just a matter of time before someone comes along and takes his belt, Hughes has the stiffest competition in all of MMA right now and I don't see ANYONE handing it to Liddell anytime soon. Same for Hughes although there are a few dudes who have decent chances at beating him...

[Lei Tong]

A good wrestler would beat Franklin...

 

People still doubt Rich this much? A good wrestler is going to either get KO'ed or armbar'ed by Rich unless they bring some other skills to the table.

 

Of course, I imagine this is discussing Lindland, who is far beyond simply a "good wrestler."

[Guest DRH 502]

I think its pretty obvious they would have to have more skills than just wrestling, I was however talking about someone the caliber of Lindland, who despite his training in other areas is at his base a great wrestler. Who has Franklin fought to prove he has great takedown defense? Most everyone i've saw him fight in the UFC was dumb enough to stand up with him the whole fight...

[Lei Tong]

I think its pretty obvious they would have to have more skills than just wrestling, I was however talking about someone the caliber of Lindland, who despite his training in other areas is at his base a great wrestler. Who has Franklin fought to prove he has great takedown defense? Most everyone i've saw him fight in the UFC was dumb enough to stand up with him the whole fight...

 

Franklin's takedown defense is solid, but nothing special. However, he's well rounded enough that getting taken down isn't a huge problem for him, as he has very good hip movement and defense in his guard, and has some submission skill from there. Also, his striking both from range & within in the clinch (aided by his huge-for-a-MW frame) makes it hard to set-up a shot or bodylock anyways.

 

Against Lindland, it's important to remember that despite being a great wrestler, Matt is also succeptable to being taken down himself, and though his guard has improved much over the years, Franklin has some very good G&P that would likely put a hurt on Lindland should he end up on his back. The stand-up is also easily in Rich's favor, so while Lindland would likely be one of Rich's toughest test, I think Rich would have to be a favorite going in.

[Youth N Asia]

I know Diego's a welterweight, don't even ask my why I lobbed him in middles